‘Squid Game’: Netflix Reveals A “Mind-Boggling” 142M Households Have Watched Korean Drama

Peter White
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Squid Game has been watched by a “mind-boggling” 142 million Netflix households. The streamer revealed the latest viewing figures Tuesday when it released its third-quarter earnings report.

“A mind-boggling 142m member households globally have chosen to watch the title in its first four weeks. The breadth of Squid Game’s popularity is truly amazing,” the company said in a letter to investors.

More from Deadline

The series, which was released September 17, follows 456 desperate contestants who compete with each other in a mysterious and deadly survival game involving multiple rounds of childhood games to win 45.6 billion won in prize money that can pull them out of their misery. Every game is a traditional Korean children’s game such as Red Light, Green Light, but the consequence of losing is death.

Netflix noted that the series has ranked as its No. 1 show in 94 countries including the U.S. and said that it had “pierced the cultural zeitgeist” with skits on Saturday Night Live and memes on TikTok gathering more than 42 billion views.

It added that demand for consumer products, likely including Halloween costumes, is “high,” and that items are on their way to retail now.

Written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, Squid Game stars Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, Jung Ho-yeon, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi and Kim Joo-ryoung.

As of October 12, the streamer noted that 111 million viewers had watched at least two minutes of the series, shattering the previous top scorer Bridgerton, which was seen by 82M households in its first 28 days.

Last week it emerged via a Bloomberg report that 132M people had tuned in to watch the dystopian drama in the first 23 days of its release, with around 117M watching at least 75 minutes and 66% (87M) finishing the show.

Netflix’s Most Watched TV Shows & Movies

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.